Joycelyn Elders Quotes
Abortion has an important and positive public health effect.
Joycelyn Elders, Surgeon General of the United States, Director, Arkansas Department of Public Health, Quoted in The Washington Times, August 14, 1993
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This quotation is one of the best examples of political flip flopping and expedience. The quotation taken by itself is not unusual and is the same position as political candidates in Massachusetts have taken for years regardless of political party. Romney was then running for the Senate—a race that he lost. Later he ran for Governor on the same position and won. However in 2008, he decided to run for the Republican nomination for the Presidency. However, at that time, the Christian Religious Right had sufficient clout within the Republican party that no one with Romney’s position on abortion would be likely to win the nomination. So Romney reversed his position on abortion and when accused of flip-flopping for political expediency, claimed that he had had an epiphany regarding abortion. However as this quotation shows, he had always believed that the personal abortion views of candidates should NOT be brought into the campaign. However along with his epiphany on abortion itself, he conveniently now claimed every candidate should constantly declare in his campaigning his position on abortion. He also flip flopped on many other issues including repudiating the Obama Health Care reform which was modeled after the very successful program he had supported when Governor. He changed on so many issues that even the Christian Right Wing Fundamentalists, whose political positions he espoused did not always trust him, nor did most of the moderates and liberals whose views he used to claim when it was politically advantageous to do so.
There is a very slight risk to the woman with a modern abortion procedure. There is a much greater risk to a woman who chooses to bring the fetus to term and give birth. The risk is small but it is 14 times more risk of maternal mortality (death to the mother) than with an abortion. There is also a much higher proportion of mental health problems (eg Post Partum Psychosis) for women who give birth. Most anti abortion advocates argue the issue on moral grounds and their view that we have a moral obligation not to take life. This has great legitimacy and there is a very large minority of Americans who agree with this position. However, anti-abortion advocates like Fortenberry who either are ignorant of the medical science and statistics or knows but lies about it, harm the cause they advocate for by coming across to many Americans as ignorant and/or untruthful, and they discredit the many fair and honest abortion foes.
The argument she made is that a woman should not be required to risk her life if she does not want to. Other than military conscription, there is no other aspect of American law whereby the society forces a citizen to risk their life.
Minnie Joycelyn Elders is an American pediatrician and public health administrator who served as Surgeon General of the United States from 1993 to 1994. A vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, she was the second woman, second person of color, and first African American to serve as Surgeon General. Elders is best known for her frank discussion of her views on controversial issues such as drug legalization, masturbation, and distributing contraception in schools. She was forced to resign in December 1994 amidst controversy as a result of her views. She is currently a professor emerita of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
